Villains, Speeches, and Socks
by Arglefumph
Summary: What if a different person was the culprit in Nancy Drew: Trail of the Twister? Namely, Dwayne Powers and his new partner.


**Author's Note: **This story was born from me wondering what it would be like if a certain person was the culprit of _Nancy Drew: Trail of the Twister_. Minor spoilers for that game abound in this story.

* * *

"You make sure to give him the old one-two for me, ND!" P.G. Krolmeister said enthusiastically.

"Will do," Nancy promised. "Now if you'll excuse me, Mr. Krolmeister, I have a saboteur to confront."

She hung up her phone and mentally prepared herself. It was time to bring this mystery to a close.

So far, she had confronted all of the suspects about their misdeeds, to no avail. She had talked with Chase about the oil, Frosty about the "missing" video footage, Debbie about her plan to get Scott fired, and she even cornered Scott about his secret meetings with Brooke. Nobody confessed to being the culprit.

And that left only one more suspect: Pa.

Nancy stepped into Ma and Pa's General Store and marched over to the front desk.

"Well, howdy, Nancy!" Pa said. "How's my favorite customer?"

"All right, Pa, the jig is up," Nancy said, jumping into Sassy Detective Accusation Mode. "I know it's you."

"Who—what now?" the kindly old man asked. "What're you talkin' about, Nancy? I haven't done anything 'cept mind my store."

"You're the one behind the sabotage at Canute College," Nancy said. "You've had a grudge against Scott ever since he failed to report that one tornado on time...the tornado that killed Ma."

Pa's face turned cold. "So you found out, didja?" he said. "Found out about the twister that killed my wife?"

"Scott has a copy of the obituary in his room," Nancy said. "He still feels terrible about what happened—"

"_It's all his fault!_" Pa cried. "If it wasn't for him, Ma would still be alive! He killed her, and he deserves to pay for it!"

Pa slammed his fist onto the counter in front of him, baring his teeth in anger. Nancy took a step backwards, ready to run out of the door in case this encounter turned deadly.

Pa grinned and stood back up. "So how was that?" he asked.

"How was...what?" Nancy asked.

"Why, my acting, of course! Looks like I fooled you again...Nancy Drew," Pa said, only he didn't sound like Pa any more.

Pa removed his glasses, and pulled off his wig. "Remember me, Nancy?" the man asked.

"Brian Powers!" Nancy said. "The man who kidnapped Bess on Dread Island!"

"My name is _Dwayne_, you idiot!" Dwayne shouted. "Dwayne Powers! Sheesh, for a super genius detective, you sure are bad with names!"

"Dwayne Powers, right," Nancy said. She knew exactly who Dwayne was; she just liked to make him upset because it was fun. "I thought you were busy searching for Cibola."

"Oh, I'm _going_ to find the Lost City of Gold someday," Dwayne said. "But I decided to take a break from villainy for a while to meet up with some of my out-of-state relatives. I haven't seen them in a while, you know?"

"Um, right," Nancy said, not sure why Dwayne was talking about his family.

"Imagine my surprise when I learned one of my cousins knows you. In fact, thanks to your meddling, he was sent to prison! Naturally, as soon as I spoke with him, I knew we'd have to team up together and defeat you, once and for all!"

Nancy rolled her eyes and snuck a peek at her watch. The police said they would be there in five minutes. Surely, she could get Dwayne to babble about unimportant things until then.

A second man appeared behind the counter and put his hand on Dwayne's shoulder. "Remember _me_, Nancy?" he said, in a voice which sounded identical to Dwayne's.

_Why do criminals always want me to remember them?_ Nancy wondered. She looked intently at this newcomer. Fluffy brown hair...a flannel shirt that had gone out of style decades ago...

"You're that guy I met in Washington," Nancy deduced. "The one who put a harness on the lost orca whale! Andy Jason!"

"Exactly!" Andy said. "I was one day away from finishing my last smuggling job, and _you_ had to ruin it!"

Andy was about two seconds away from a long rant—apparently, giving dramatic speeches ran in the family—but a memory about Andy tickled the inside of Nancy's brain, and she gave voice to her thoughts.

"Wait...weren't you the one I defeated with a beach ball?" Nancy asked.

Andy's face fell. "A...beach ball?"

"Yeah!" Nancy said. "I remember now! I threw a beach ball in the water, and the orca threw it back because it plays catch! That was so cute!"

Dwayne looked confused. "You were defeated by a beach ball?" he asked.

"It was an air tank," Andy said. "You know, the kind scuba divers use?"

"I'm pretty sure it was a beach ball," Nancy said. She distinctly remembered playing beach ball catch with the orca.

"I did _not_ get defeated by a plastic toy!" Andy yelled.

"If you say so," Nancy said. "It was still the most hilarious escape ever. Bess and George made me act it out, like, ten times."

Andy growled furiously. "That's it, Nancy! I'm going to _destroy_ you!"

The counter was still in between Nancy and the two villains, so she felt relatively safe. Still, she decided it would be best to stop Andy before he did something dangerous. She grabbed a Krolmeister Salad Cannon off of a nearby shelf, and threw in the first soft thing she could find: four pairs of blue socks.

Andy furiously jiggled at the door which led to the side of the counter. "Why—won't—it—open?" he cried.

"You have to hold the lock up _while_ pushing," Dwayne explained.

"Hey, Andy!" Nancy cried.

Andy looked up from the stuck door and turned his face towards Nancy. "What?" he asked.

"Say good night," Nancy grinned, pointing the Krolmeister Salad Cannon right at his face. She pressed the ON button, and the eight blue socks went flying at Andy's face.

"Nuts," Andy said, spinning in a circle and falling down, unconscious.

Dwayne was silent for a moment before he could find his voice. "You defeated my cousin with _socks?_" he asked, amazed.

"And a salad maker," Nancy said, smugly. She would have to thank P.G. Krolmeister for that particular invention when this was all over.

"Not bad," Dwayne said. "But I must admit, the man had_ no talent! I'm_ the star of this evil operation! You're still in big trouble, Nancy!"

"If you say so," Nancy said. By now, she was so used to confronting criminals that it didn't even phase her anymore. So far, she had been led on six high-speed chases, captured seven culprits in clever traps, and escaped from a locked area twelve times. Dwayne didn't stand a chance.

Dwayne leaped on top of the counter and struck a dramatic pose. "Next time, if there _is_ a next time, watch upon whose toes you step, Nancy Drew!"

Dwayne then surprised Nancy by turning around and running straight for the Employees Only door.

"Hey!" Nancy cried. It looked like this encounter would be a chase after all. "You can't get away that easily!"

She ran into the Employees Only room after Dwayne. It was a tiny area, not much bigger than four feet by four feet wide. The only thing inside it was a large pipe running from ceiling to the floor. Before Nancy had time to wonder where Dwayne had escaped to, the door shut itself behind her, trapping her inside.

"A trap!" she said. "I should have known."

When she had been in similar situations before, the culprit had tried to drown her. This time, however, Pa Pennies started raining down from the ceiling. In a matter of minutes, the room would be full of Pa Pennies, and she wouldn't be able to move.

"There must be a way out of here!" Nancy said. The door was locked—naturally—and she didn't have her lock-breaking hairpin with her at the moment. She turned her attention to the only other thing in the room: the pipe.

On the pipe were six knobs, each with the numbers 1 through 10 written on them. Above the knobs were a series of clues.

_The first number is the same as the fourth number._  
_The third number and the second number put together is twice as much as the fourth number_.  
_The sixth number is..._

"I don't have time for more logic puzzles," Nancy grumbled. "Oh well. At least it's not mice catching again. Let's try...1 1 1 1 1 1."

She spun the knobs to that formation, and amazingly, it worked.

"Thank you, Junior Mode!" Nancy said to herself.

As soon as the knobs spun into place, the back wall of the room opened, giving her access to the next room. This room contained the exit to the general store, as well as an old man who was tied up in the corner.

"Pa!" Nancy cried.

* * *

_Dear Ned,_

_Well, it looks like Dwayne Powers got away again, but at least we managed to catch Andy. I don't think he's going to be bothering me again for a while, though. The last I heard, he developed a huge fear of socks and refuses to be anywhere near someone who's wearing them. He's now living on a hippie ranch, where he can't harm anyone ever again._

_When I rescued Pa, he said that Dwayne and Andy knocked him out shortly after I started work on the mystery. Apparently, their plan was to give me a case that I couldn't solve, which would ruin my reputation as a super sleuth. Too bad for them their plan didn't work out so well._

_In any case, I can't wait to get home soon and act out my defeat of Andy for you. It's hilarious, trust me._

_Love,  
Nancy_


End file.
